Love - The Odessa Record "By Your Relative"

Odessa Record subscriber Larry Fisher of Spokane continues his series of articles on the history of the Batum/Lauer area (where his wife, the former Joyce Kiesz, grew up).

Hi, here I am again.

In The Odessa Record, the missile hubbub started in April, 1959. The papers dated 4/2/1959 and 5/14/1959 mentioned – A report says – Area to get two missile sites containing long range weapons – bids called for April 21. One site will be one mile north of Lamona on the Harms place. The other will be a few miles south of Batum on land owned by Stanley Oliver. Note: Jos. Herman had a few acres of land taken from him also. The announcement that Titan missiles may be used at Batum was unexpected. Most people expected the sites to contain Atlas missiles. A Titan is more advanced than the Atlas. The Titan which weighs 110 tons at launch, is a 90-foot, liquid fueled two-stage missile capable of speeds up to more than 17,250 mph. The Titan is intended to be the world’s most devastating war rocket. Its range has been estimated up to 9,000 miles. The Titan missile will reach its target from Batum in less than 30 minutes, at its extreme range. Any missiles launched from the Moses Lake area including Batum, could hit any part of the Soviet union and nearly every part of communist China. The site is designed to remain operational immediately after an atomic blast in the area – should one occur.

Stanley Oliver has been permitted to seed the summer fallow ground indicated to be the site required. He has not been given a promise that the crop will be allowed to mature, or no indication that anything will interfere with taking off a crop this fall. He indicates that he will no doubt read about it in the papers before he gets any facts, even though he seems to be sitting on top of the action.

Until next time.

Your Relative, Spokane